Westword Pot Critic Helps Change Colorado Driving-While-Stoned Bill
april 20, 2011 02:40 pm
A Colorado Senate committee this week amended a proposed bill that would have set THC driving limits, saying the limit needed further study, thanks to an assist from
Westword's pot critic.
As
the Denver Post reports, efforts to change the bill "received an extra boost Monday when William Breathes -- the pen name of alternative newspaper
Westword's medical-marijuana reviewer -- reported a blood test showed nearly 14 nanograms per milliliter in his blood when he was sober."
Breathes said he had his blood drawn while sober to address concerns about how long THC can stay in a person's system after they have used it.
He wrote:
I had blood drawn (for a second time) to see just how much active THC was in my blood even after a night of sleep and not smoking for fifteen hours.
As it turns out, I've got a lot. So much that I and thousands of other medical marijuana patients may be risking arrest every time we drive if the measure passes. Even when deemed sober by a doctor, my active THC levels were almost triple the proposed standard of 5 nanograms per milliliter of blood.
The bill is by no means defeated, and it could be amended back to its original form as it winds its way through the Colorado legislature.
